Nevertheless, its earnings and revenue declined from the same period last year. Earnings fell to $5.99 billion vs. $6.5 billion a year earlier, and revenue fell to $25.35 billion.

The massive bank's stock rose 1.71% in pre-market trading on the news.

Like other large banks, JPMorgan Chase faced legal headwinds. The company paid $500 million in legal fees in the second quarter, or about 13 cents a share. Unlike Citigroup, which reported earnings Monday, "They are further along in the legal situation," says Erik Oja, banking industry analyst for S&P capital IQ.

Like Citibank, JPMorgan Chase also saw growth in its key business: Core lending rose 8% from the same time a year ago, and commercial banking rose 9%. But both big banks saw their revenue from trading fall. JPMorgan Chase logged $3.5 billion in bond trading in the second quarter, down 12% from a year previous. Stock trading revenue was down 10%.

Wall Street's expectation for the bank were low: The stock is priced at about 10 times earnings, says Oja, "A few years ago, they were the strongest of the big three banks; now they are the weakest," Oja says.